The Past, Present And Possible Future At Quarterback Will All Play A Key Role To Championships
Thirty-three seasons have passed since Notre Dame last won a national championship, but a strong case could be made that the Irish program is closer now than it has been since the 1993 season to take that final step. For head coach Marcus Freeman and his staff it's not just about winning a title, it's about creating a program that contends for titles on a consistent basis.
There are several areas where Notre Dame must continue to improve as a program, but there is one huge, glaring weakness within the program when you compare the Irish to programs like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. Or what separates them from the great LSU team from 2019.
Quarterback.
Notre Dame has had some quality quarterbacks over the years, but the play from the position hasn't been good enough to compete for titles.
A past, present and potentially future quarterback hold the keys to Notre Dame making the final jump and becoming not just a title contender, but to get over the hump and become a champion.
THE PAST
Of course, the past quarterback I am discussing here is Tommy Rees, who now runs the offense for his alma mater.
It will be as a coach that Rees gets an opportunity to truly leave a long lasting legacy. He is tasked with fixing the quarterback development problems that have plagued the program going back to his own playing days. Rees not only needs to coordinate the offense and call plays at a high level, he must prove himself to be one of the better quarterback coaches in the country.
Rees has shown himself to be a quality play-caller, and that proved especially true during the final six games of the season when the Irish averaged 40.2 points per game and the offense averaged 492.3 yards per game and 7.2 yards per play.
For context, that scoring average would have ranked 6th in the country if it was the season-long average, and the yards per game would have ranked 7th (ahead of Alabama) and the yards per play would have ranked 3rd nationally.
Rees now must figure out how to produce similar results for an entire season, and he especially needs to figure out how to produce big-time results in big games and big moments.
If he can he will play a very important role to Notre Dame ending its title drought over the next couple of seasons.
THE PRESENT
That doesn't happen if Rees can't properly build the offense around rising sophomore Tyler Buchner, and if he can't coach Buchner up to the point where he is able to play to his potential.
Buchner is the present for Notre Dame, and his development over the next two seasons will go a very, very long way to the Irish being able to get over the hump with him behind center.
The California native is a dynamic athlete that will certainly expand the ground attack. Buchner brings the off-platform playmaking ability teams covet, and that has given the Irish defense fits over the years. He can beat teams with his legs on designed runs and when things break down in the pass game.
But if Notre Dame is going to compete for a championship with him in charge he'll need to show the ability to beat teams with his arms on a consistent basis.
Buchner has a lightning quick release and he shows a good feel for the game, but improving his decision making, accuracy and ability to attack down the field are areas where his game must improve. He showed flashes in the spring and during his first fall on campus, but now it is about making more good plays, making the mistakes fewer and fewer and developing the ability to sit in the pocket and do damage.
If Buchner's passing ability catches up to his running ability he absolutely has the kind of impact talent needed to be the leader of an explosive, championship caliber offense.
THE FUTURE
What Rees does on the recruiting trail over the next year will go a long way towards determining if Notre Dame can continue being a top team, and if the Irish will be able to continue competing for championships beyond the Buchner era.
It could also determine if Notre Dame is capable of winning a recruiting championship.
Fortunately for the Irish there is an elite, championship caliber quarterback that is a Notre Dame fit in every way that lives just about three hours down the road from South Bend.
That player would be Dante Moore.
The Detroit (Mich.) King standout is a special player in many ways. He shows an advanced mind for the game and has truly elite arm talent, and he's very much the modern quarterback in that he is just as good throwing off platform as he is at sitting in the pocket and picking teams apart in a more traditional pass attack. Moore is athletic, but he prefers to use his athleticism to get throws off instead of running, something I think Rees would actually prefer in the offense.
Oh, and Moore just put out this tweet:
Landing Moore not only gives Notre Dame an elite quarterback with the potential to lead the Irish to a championship down the road, he's the kind of pied piper that gives Notre Dame a chance to land the kind of elite players around him to help the Irish compete for the No. 1 ranked recruiting class so many fans covet.
Developing Buchner and landing Moore over the next year would be huge for Rees. It would cement him as not only one of the best young minds in the game, but one of the very best offensive coordinators in the country regardless of experience.
Those two feats would also put Notre Dame in position to go from being the really good team that it is now, one capable of winning 10 games a year and getting to the occasional playoff but not one capable of winning a title, to being an elite team that is capable of playing with and beating anyone on any given Saturday.
It's a unique convergence you don't often see, the past, present and future at quarterback with one program coming together to achieve elite success. That, however, is exactly the opportunity that is in front of Notre Dame.
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